


Every Letter

by andadobeslabs



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst, Children of Characters, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Korrasami - Freeform, M/M, Slice of Life, Wuko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-03 19:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2877953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andadobeslabs/pseuds/andadobeslabs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of slice of life one shots for each letter of the alphabet. Each chapter contains one Korra/Asami story, and one Mako/Wu story on the same topic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A - Apologies

“I’m sorry.” Wu kissed Mako on the forehead, straddling the firebender on the couch. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry.”

“Don’t.” Mako looked away, not wanting to give his lover the satisfaction of forgiveness.

“I’ll make it up to you.” Wu kissed Mako lightly on his jawline.

“And how exactly do you intend to do that?” Mako hissed, though he was blushing from the contact.

“Well first.” Wu kissed Mako again, on his cheek this time. “I’ll take you to the mall, and since I don’t have unlimited money anymore, we will walk around and I will talk about the things I would buy you if I could.” Mako chuckled, but returned to his serious face quickly. “I will though, dish out enough money to buy us both smoothies, which we will drink undisturbed.”

“Yeah?” The fire bender was still unconvinced. Wu continued.

“And then we’ll go sing karaoke. I know how much you love my singing.” Wu said in a sing-song voice, getting a bit of a smile out of Mako. “When we’re done, we will come back here, to our apartment, and I will make sure you know exactly how sorry I am.” Wu poked Mako in the chest, and Mako finally seemed to lighten up.

“That doesn’t change the fact that Lin will drive me crazy all week making fun of me.” Mako maintained.

“Well maybe next time she will knock before she enters an interrogation room.”

 

 

-XXXXXX-

 

 

Asami woke up to a loud roar of flames. She jumped out of bed to find Korra bending in her sleep. Asami tried to wake her up as calmly as possible, but it was almost inevitable that she ended up getting burned. Literally.

Asami yelped in pain, and that was what it took for Korra to finally wake up. She saw Asami sitting on the floor nursing her own arm, and immediately broke into hysterics.

“Shhh Korra.” Asami cooed, reaching her unharmed hand to touch Korra, but Korra shoved it away. “You’re safe. It's just me. No one is hurting you.”

“I’m so sorry“ Korra continued talking, but her words were incomprehensible through the sobbing.

“It’s fine.” Asami got up to sit back down on the bed next to Korra, and patted her on the back while she sobbed.

“I thought I was better,” Korra was able to get out. “Ever since I defeated Kuvira, I thought my memories of Zaheer would fade, but every once in a while it comes back in my dreams, and I don’t know how to get him to leave me alone.” She admitted, sobbing into Asami’s shoulder. Asami just held her there for a few minutes, until Korra’s face was raw and stinging.

“He can’t hurt you here. I won’t let him.” Asami reassured her, but Korra seemed unconvinced.

“But now I hurt you. How could you forgive me? How can I forgive myself?” She sniffled, and Asami hugged her tightly.

“I love you so much, I just want you to be okay. I know you didn’t mean it.” Korra pushed her away suddenly, and Asami started to tear up herself.

“That's not fair to you. None of this is.” Korra said, not making eye contact. “You deserve better.”

“What are you trying to say?” Asami whimpered out.

“I’m not stable enough for you. I’m crazy. I’m a waste of your time and energy.”

“That’s not true!” Asami stood up then, to get Korra’s attention, but Korra was averting her gaze.

“Even if it was, it’s my decision. I have decided that I love you no matter what happens.”

“Maybe it’s for your own good, then, that I end things. Maybe you're too blind to realize that I’m bad for you.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Asami practically shouted. Korra stayed firm in her resolve.

“It's like…” Korra started to cry again. “I’m the dark ocean surrounding the water tribes, and you’re sunlight.”

“What does that even mean?”

“I’ll keep absorbing all of the energy you give to me, and give nothing in return but cold darkness.” Korra stopped crying, and instead sounded like she was spitting the words through her teeth.

“That’s not true.” Asami started, sitting back on the bed and hugging Korra from behind, despite her protests. “If you were an ocean, I would sink myself into you and let every ounce of water into my lungs, just to feel you fill me completely.” She was basically whispering into the Avatar's ear at this point, both of them were still shivering from the sobbing. “If you’re an ocean, I want to drown in you.”

Asami flinched when Korra’s hand made contact with Asami’s singed arm, and they both breathed deeply together, but neither of them spoke.


	2. B - Bolin

Bolin knew about Korra and Asami before either of them did.

While he was definitely not the brains of Team Avatar, he did understand his friends better than they realized. At first, he thought he was overthinking it. They clearly stopped seeing each other as rivals for his brother’s affection, which was good, but they started spending more time with just the two of them.

“I called Asami my _girlfriend_ , i’m pathetic!” Korra whined to him at some point after harmonic convergence, but before they were being chased by the Red Lotus. She tried to play it off as not knowing the right thing to say, but Bolin could see right through her.

When the two of them were captured by the Earth Queen’s forces, and returned closer than ever, his suspicions were only further confirmed. He pretended not to notice the way they looked at each other when the other one wasn’t paying attention, but he did. He started to theorize with others at that point, pointing things out to Mako. Mako called him delusional, and told him firmly that neither of them had given any indication of being attracted to girls before that point, and that they were just close friends. Bolin then returned to his keeping his observations to himself, but secretly placed a bet against Mako in his head anyway.

When Korra went to turn herself in to Zaheer, and Asami looked like she was on the verge of crying when she told Korra to be careful, Bolin felt the pain deep. Admittedly, at that point, he didn’t even feel as strongly about Opal yet as Asami clearly did for Korra, and it hurt him to know that things could have been over that day, and neither of them would have known how the other one felt. While he debated bringing it up, he knew that protecting the Air Nation, and Opal by extension, was more important.

He started to doubt his own theory when Korra was leaving Republic City, and Asami asked her if she could go along with Korra to the Southern Water Tribe. To his surprise, Korra said no. While he didn’t want to admit that Mako might be right, he wondered if they really were just close friends. Or if Asami had feelings for Korra, but Korra didn’t feel the same way.

Three years passed and he almost forgot the subject entirely. When he finally got back to Republic City, with news of Kuvira’s spirit weapon, he was surprised to notice how the dynamic of the group had changed. Everyone had their own lives, separate, before reuniting under those circumstances, but he felt like he was walking into a group of strangers for the first time in a long time.

“So apparently,” Mako said to Bolin, once they had some alone time for the first time since Bolin had gotten back. “Korra wrote to Asami while she was gone.” He grumbled, and Bolin started to feel smugly superior again. “But then they started fighting, and now things are a little weird. I don’t know what’s going on with them.”

Bolin started to get the feeling that he’d spend the rest of his life like this. Constantly debating with himself whether or not some incident was indicative of a greater pattern of romance, or if he was just making it all up in his head. But something about finding out that Korra wrote to Asami and not them while she was gone kinda cemented a disturbing truth into his head. Not only did they clearly have feelings for each other, but there was no way he’d ever get closure for it. They would never be brave enough, in that aspect of their lives at least, to make their feelings known and actually go for it. And that was the most depressing thing he could think of as a fate for two of his best friends.

It was late into the night at Varrick and Zhu Li’s wedding. He and Opal had taken off to a secluded part of the garden to be alone when he could just barely overhear the two girls talking. He couldn’t see anything, but he heard just enough.

_“I don’t think I ever really apologized.”_

_“For what?”_

_“For being gone all that time. For not coming back sooner.”_

Bolin looked at Opal, who seemed unamused and uninterested. Bolin started grinning and shushed her when she tried to speak.

_“You don’t need to apologize for anything. I’m just so happy you’re here now. I just don’t think I could have handled losing you and my father in the same day.”_

_“I am so sorry for what happened.”_

Bolin looked at Opal again, this time with wider eyes.

_“Thank you. I’m just glad I was able to forgive him.”_

_"So, what now, back to the dance floor?”_

_“I’m kind of all danced out. Honestly, after everything that’s happened the past few months, I could use a vacation.”_

_“Let’s do it! Let’s go on a vacation, just the two of us. Anywhere you want.”_

Bolin made a noise not unlike one of a tea kettle.

_“Really? Okay… I’ve always wanted to see what the Spirit World’s like.”_

Bolin nudged Opal, repeatedly.

_“Sounds perfect.”_

“OH MY GOD MAKO OWES ME SO MUCH MONEY!” Bolin practically shouted. He overheard the two girls giggling, and even Opal gave him a reassuring pat on the back.

Later that night, Bolin ran into Mako in the bathroom.

“So, you heard about Asami and Korra, right? Going to the spirit world together? On a vacation?” Bolin started, Mako just laughed.

“Yeah yeah, you think you were right.” He dismissed him.

“You can’t possibly think they’re still friends after this.”

“I won’t believe anything until I hear confirmation from both of them.”

Bolin just smacked his forehead as he heard the door close behind his deluded brother.

 

-XXXXX-

 

When Bolin found out about Wu and Mako, he was at the police station.

Bolin had been in the area already, interning under President Raiko, and decided to drop in on Mako to surprise him. To Bolin’s surprise, the former object of Mako’s protection had the same idea.

Bolin watched curiously from a distance at first. Wu sat attentively in the chair across from Mako’s desk and listened with great enthusiasm to Mako complain about work. While Bolin was not incredibly fond of Wu, and found him a bit annoying, he had to admit that Wu almost rivaled himself in the enthusiasm department. Mako, clearly upset about his work, put down his case file and lifted his good hand to his temple, sighing deeply.

Wu grabbed Mako’s other hand, the scarred one, and ran his thumb over the firebender’s palm, calming him. Bolin watched over the situation like a deer in headlights.

By complete chance, Mako looked Bolin’s way, and immediately looked like he was going to have a heart attack. “Bolin?” Wu turned to look also, and while Mako attempted to pull his hand away, Wu kept an iron grip.

“Let him come over here-“

“You don’t understand-“

“You’re underestimating your brother-“

“Hey, guys…” Bolin awkwardly interrupted, Mako and Wu’s hands were still intertwined on the desk in front of all of them.Bolin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “What’s up?”

“Mako was just telling me about his case.” Wu smiled at Bolin, and then looked between the two brothers. “As he was looking pretty stressed, I decided to comfort him, with my hand here.” Wu pointed to the obvious, with his free hand, “Like a good boyfriend would, if their boyfriend was clearly distraught over work.”

Mako turned the deepest shade of red Bolin could remember in all of history, and he could not resist his brotherly urge to tease him endlessly about it. “You don’t say?” Bolin said with a huge grin, “I didn’t realize Mako was seeing anyone.”

“We’re not keeping it secret or anything,” Mako stated sternly. “I was just waiting for the right time to bring it up, but we’ve both been busy.” Bolin suddenly felt ashamed of himself for not making time for his brother until then. “You’re not like, freaked out or anything, are you?”

Wu just watched on silently, not letting go of Mako’s hand.

“Of course not!” Bolin approached his brother, and put his hand on his shoulder. “You’re my brother and you could probably kill someone and i’d still just deal with it.” Mako looked a bit horrified at that, “Not that it’s the same thing at all, or that you’d do that.”

“Well now that that’s settled,” Wu interrupted, mostly to save Bolin, “How are you and Opal?”

“Fine, fine. She’s been gone a lot doing important airbender things with the other airbenders. I’ve been busy too here in Republic City. Whenever she’s in town we spend time together, though.” Bolin smiles to himself, “Which is nice.”

“Have you heard from Korra or Asami?” Mako asked, and Bolin shook his head.

“Not since they went on their honeymoon thing to the spirit world.” Bolin admitted, gesturing in the general direction of the spirit portal. “You know, I have a theory.”

Mako readjusted himself in his seat in preparation. “And what is that?”

“If the second spirit portal made a bunch of people bend air,” Bolin paused for comedic effect, “then it seems like the third spirit portal made a bunch of people bend both ways, if you know what i’m saying.”

There was one other cop in the room at the time, and if he had been pretending not to be listening to the conversation before that point, his cover had been blown when he literally spit his instant noodles all over his desk in a fit of laughter.

The three of them, and the other cop, laughed together for a few moments.

Mako lifted his free hand and placed it on top of the presently entangled ones. He smiled at the former Prince for a second, and then at Bolin. “I guess so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully these make up for the angst in Chapter 1. Bolin, in this moment, was all of us.


	3. C - Children

“And how’s my lovely Chief of Police?” Wu greeted Mako at the door, who just gave him a look of exasperation before dropping his briefcase off in the doorway.

“Tired. And my Director of the Earth Republic Cultural Center?” Mako asked, and Wu just grinned at him.

“I left work early. Guess what?”

“I don’t really have time for any surprises today, babe.” Mako admitted, and Wu kept his grin.

“I think you’re going to want to see this.” Wu insisted, and Mako resigned. “Yin, come in here!”

Yin, named after her late great-grandmother, ran into the foyer where her fathers stood. “Daddy! Guess what?”

“What’s that, sweetie?” Mako squatted to be at her level, and she grinned.

She held out her right hand, and with a motion that resembled swishing a cup of water, a flame hovered over her palm. Mako started beaming.

“I'm bending!” She exclaimed, and Mako hugged his daughter.

“And at only 6 years old!” Mako added in pride. Wu looked away so he wouldn’t start crying happy tears right there.

“What are the odds,” Wu started, but never finished. The unspoken rest of that sentence was ‘that a girl we adopted from the Earth Republic would end up a firebender’ but it wasn’t time for that discussion yet.

“That means you’re gonna teach me firebending, right daddy?” She looked up at Mako with big yellow saucers of eyes, and he gave her a thoughtful nod.

She turned away from Mako and hugged her other father’s legs. “What are you hugging me for, silly girl? I'm not a firebender.” Wu laughed, and also lowered himself to be at her eye level. Mako stood back up and started taking off his police uniform jacket.

“I'm just really happy.” She said, and buried her face into Wu’s leg. Mako looked at the two of them and started to get a bit emotional himself. Wu turned and noticed.

Wu mouthed “what’s wrong?” but Mako waved him off.

'We’ll talk about it later.' Wu decided to interpret from that.

“Have you told your uncle Bolin yet? I bet he’ll be excited.” Mako asked, and she shook her head. “You ought to, then, you know his phone number.” Mako shooed her off, and as soon as she was out of earshot, Wu hugged him.

While he was ecstatic, he couldn’t help but think back to when he first learned he could firebend.

_He was about 8 years old. Another street rat, much older than them, had tried to steal Bolin’s bag. Mako swept in at just the right time, and accidentally cast a blaze of fire in the direction of the thief, just enough to make him give up and go for someone else._

_Mako had learned to associate bending with destruction. He watched benders cut down his family right in front of him. He saw how bending ruined lives._

_It wasn’t until one particularly cold winter that all of that changed. Mako was a young teenager, and when he should have been worried about school and dating, his entire life revolved around keeping Bolin safe. It was almost out of his hands that night, though. The temperature dropped well below 0 degrees, and many of the homeless, he’d find out later, didn’t make it out of that night alive._

_Bolin had offered to build them some kind of shelter, or at least try to, but Mako was insistent that he not. Mako didn’t want his brother to be a bender. Mako knew that he was already just going to be used as muscle for the triads, as a result of his bending, and he didn’t want that fate for genuinely sweet Bolin._

_So instead, they wedged themselves between two man made structures, and tried to stay warm the best they could._

_Mako had long since given up on wishing his parents had been there, audibly at least. He resented them, really. Leaving him to raise his brother on his own. He was upset, suddenly, at no one in particular. Maybe it was the resentment towards his parents, or the universe, or his predicament specifically. He was interrupted from his rage-fueled thought process with Bolin’s concern._

_“Mako, you’re really warm.” Bolin made the decision to press his uncovered hand onto Mako’s forehead, and pulled it away with a wince. “Are you sick or something?”_

_That’s when it occurred to him, he was a firebender. He could produce heat._

_Mako quickly threw his arms around his younger brother, and held them there until he felt Bolin’s clothes get noticeably damp. He assumed that was the ice melting, but it was probably sweat too._

_Maybe he had approached the whole bending thing wrong. Fire wasn’t just rage, though it was often fueled by it in his case, it was also life. It literally kept them alive._

_Bolin tried to push Mako away, saying “now i’m too warm!” but Mako shook his head and dug his forehead into Bolin’s chest. They weren’t going to die, not yet._

_And when they made it through the night, and the next day they were blessed with above freezing temperatures, Mako was determined to do things differently. He started by teaching Bolin what he knew about bending. Not everything translated perfectly, but Bolin was able to take the things Mako taught him and turn them into something different entirely._

_When Toza offered to mentor them into pro bending, Mako felt selfish, but also enlightened. Not only had bending kept them alive back then, but it would also give them a life outside of crime._

“What’s up?” Wu asked, trying to interrupt Mako’s train of thought, and Mako sighed deeply, trembling a bit.

“I was just thinking back to when I discovered I could firebend.” Mako confessed.

“Were your parents as excited as we are?” Wu asked, and Mako flinched as soon as he said it.

“It was after they died.” Mako frowned at his boots. “No one really taught me how to firebend. I had to figure it out myself, out of necessity. It took me years of knowing that Bolin could bend before I even let him do it, let alone taught him anything.”

Wu patted his shoulder to comfort him. “Well look at it this way,” Wu began, “Yin not only has one parent to teach her how to bend,” Mako smiled sadly, “But another parent to yell at her and the other parent for bending in the house and burning down priceless Earth Kingdom tapestries.”

Mako smiled shyly, and pulled his husband in for a kiss.

“Ewwwww!” Yin interrupted, laughing, having just walked into the scene. “Uncle Bolin wants to talk to you, Daddy.” She said, impatiently.

Mako took one more look at his family, seeing his husband holding his daughter, and walked to the phone in the other room. “Hey, little bro.”

“Plus, Bolin seemed to turn out fine.” Wu said under his breath, to no one in particular.

 

-XXXXX-

 

When Korra woke up one morning and couldn’t find her very pregnant wife, she panicked.

First, she called Lin, who told her that she’d keep Asami in her thoughts, but to stop bothering her while she’s in retirement.

Then, she called Mako, who assured her that after 24 hours, he would enlist an entire search party. In the mean time, Korra would just have to sit tight. Off the record, though, Mako had already alerted a few people to keep their eyes open. Korra had to promise not to tell anyone she was getting special treatment.

When she tried to see with the spirit vines, she couldn’t find Asami anywhere, and that terrified her even more. What if the worst had happened? She was nearly 9 months pregnant, what if someone was trying to steal the baby?

Korra, still not giving up, went to Air Temple Island as a last resort. She felt bad interrupting Jinora’s morning meditation, but she really needed the young woman’s help.

“I want to know if you can project yourself to wherever Asami is, even if she’s not…” Jinora looked nervous, and Korra shuddered. “Around, anymore.”

“I'll see what I can do.” Jinora looked in Korra’s eyes to reassure her, but Korra was too emotional to think rationally anyway.

Korra watched Jinora as she meditated.

First, Jinora scouted the entirety of Republic City, but honestly could not feel her anywhere in the physical realm. It didn't take her very long to figure that she must be in the Spirit World, so into the spirit world she headed.

She didn’t have to go very far, either. Jinora looked around the area where all three spirit portals came into the spirit world, and found her in the Tree of Time, meditating.

“Asami?” Jinora asked, from the base of the tree.

“Jinora?” Asami opened her eyes, and beckoned the younger woman up into the tree with her. When Jinora gave her a confused look, Asami patted the ground next to her. “Sit.”

“Korra is destroying the city looking for you.” Jinora stated simply, but Asami didn’t seem surprised or concerned. “She's at Air Temple Island with me right now.”

“I needed to get away for a while.” Asami confessed, touching her stomach. “Honestly, Jinora, I'm worried.”

“What do you have to be worried about?”

“I don’t know if I'm going to be a good enough mother to this baby.” Asami started to get teary eyed and looked towards Jinora, as if she had the answers she was looking for, but Jinora just smiled sadly.

“I can’t see into the future,” Jinora admitted, “But I am certain you’re going to be a great mother.”

“How could you know that?” Asami muttered under her breath, and Jinora patted her on the shoulder.

“Because you’re worrying about it at all.” She stated simply. “And you won’t be doing it alone. Korra loves you more than anyone I've ever seen, and she loves the baby just as much as she loves you, if not more.”

“I guess she really does, huh?” Asami smiled downward, and started to stand up. “I guess I should go calm her down then.”

“I agree.” Jinora helped Asami finish standing, and then disintegrated back into the real world.

“Where is she?” Korra begged.

“She’s on her way.” Jinora smiled, and led Korra into the dining room, where Pema was making tea.

“Good morning Korra,” Pema smiled, and offered Korra a full cup. “How is Asami doing? She should be due any day now.”

“She scared me a little bit today,” Korra took the cup politely, “But other than that she’s been doing well. We’ve been doing everything that you, Kya, and Katara recommended we do.”

“Well that’s good.” Pema said as Korra sat down at the table. “Have you seen Kai today, Jinora?” Pema redirected the conversation. Jinora shook her head.

“He said he needed to run into town, and we would go on a picnic after my meditation.” Jinora smiled to herself and Pema smirked. Korra was undistracted enough to be suspicious that something was going on, but too distracted to ask about it.

A few minutes of quiet later, an air bison grunted and landed outside the temple.

The three of them rushed outside to greet the visitors. Kai helped Asami off the bison, and padded her step even more with a light blast of air beneath her feet.

“Thank you, sir.” Asami said, and patted him on the cheek.

“I found this very pregnant woman wandering in this direction from the city and thought I'd give her a lift.” Kai smiled at Korra, and then to Jinora, “You ready?”

“Sure.” Jinora said, looking between Asami and Korra, and then the two airbenders were off in the direction of the gardens.

Korra ran to her wife and hugged her tightly. “Where did you go?”

“I went to the Tree of Time, to see if I could get some insight.” Asami confessed, and Korra exhaled.

“On what?”

“Being a parent. My own parents…” Asami’s smile twisted into a frown, and Korra hugged her again.

“You’ll be a great mom” Korra reassured her. “The best. I'm sure I'll be the weak link in this parenting arrangement.”

“I doubt that.” Asami dismissed her. “I'm worried that I work too much and I'll never see our child, and they’ll grow up resenting me.”

“Puh!” Korra gently punched her in the shoulder. “You’ll be one of those super moms. You’ll be writing a book in 5 years on how to ‘Have it All in Business and Family’ and people will look up to you for your time management skills for years to come!”

“I haven’t even been a parent yet, Korra.” Asami chuckled.

“Fortunately I have, like, thousands of times.” Korra said cockily, and Asami started to warm up a bit.

She still looked worried though, and Korra kissed her gently on the mouth.

“What’s that for?”

“Because you’re cute when you’re nervous.” Korra kissed her again. “And you’re my favorite person to kiss.”

“You two are adorable.” Pema cooed.

Interrupting their kissing session, Jinora practically ran back into the courtyard where Asami, Korra, and Pema were standing.

“Kai proposed!” She grinned at the three women, and then back at her now fiancé.

Korra practically skipped over and hugged both of the young airbenders. Pema maintained a knowing smile, probably having planned the whole thing herself. Kai and Jinora walked over towards Asami, saving her the short distance waddle for a hug.

“Hopefully, Tonraq and Senna won’t be the only ones becoming grandparents soon.” Korra joked, nudging Pema. Jinora blushed.

Asami figured things were probably going to work out just fine.


	4. D - Drunk

Asami rarely drank, but it was a special occasion.

Two of her best friends were (hopefully) only going to get married once in her life time, and it had been a long week. Korra was drinking too, but seeing Asami drunk had a way of sobering her up real fast. But it was still fairly early.

“Bolin…” Asami slurred, and from her chair, pulled the groom down to her level. “Now listen to me. The best thing you can do for Opal,” She grabbed her drink again and took a sip, Korra debated confiscating it, but Asami didn’t seem drunk enough for it to be worrying yet. “Is to treat the rest of your life together as if you’re still falling in love with her for the first time.”

“Thanks, Asami.” Bolin chuckled, and patted her on the back a little bit condescendingly.

“And tell her you love her all the time.” She added, and then finished off her drink.

Korra was going to stop her from getting another drink, but when Asami stood up from her chair, she faltered, and decided it would be best to sit back down. She patted the table in front of her as if it were a dear friend.

“I’ll be sure to do that.” Bolin tried to look for an excuse to escape the situation, but Asami kept going.

“Compliment her all the time. Just be like ‘Gosh Opal, your wingsuit looks awfully good on you today!’ for no reason at all. Except that it does look awfully good on her…” Asami looked over at Korra, who pouted.“But would look better on my darling girlfriend, obviously.”

“This is ridiculous.” Mako interrupted, and Asami frowned. “You’re not even married, what qualifies you to give marriage advice?”

“YOUR EYEBROWS ARE RIDICULOUS!” Asami stood up, shoving the table a bit in Mako’s direction. She looked like she was considering stomping off for dramatic effect, but decided against it when she realized how much the room was spinning. Everyone in the immediate vicinity burst into laughter, and Mako glared at the sober few in attendance.

“My eyebrows aren’t ridiculous.” He insisted.

Bolin raised his own eyebrows. “If I didn’t know for a fact that it weren’t the case, I would think that you pluck them specifically to look that ridiculous!”   Mako grumbled.

Wu, who had been chatting with President Raiko about Earth Kingdom business during most of the conversation, dropped by the table just soon enough to hear Bolin’s quip. He laughed, but gave Mako a reassuring back pat. “I, for one, like your eyebrows.” He insisted. “They look like little dolphins, or something.”

“I hate you all.” Mako buried his face in a shelter he built out of his own hands, and only emerged to take a long drink.

“And,” Asami kept talking, “And and and you need to still go on dates, even though you’re married already.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem.” This seemed to appease Asami, temporarily. Korra grabbed her hand, but the engineer started to look uncomfortable.

“You okay, babe?” Korra asked, and Asami remained silent with her eyes closed. A few seconds later, her eyes popped open and her demeanor was back to her cheerful self.

“Now I am, what happened to those appetizers with the kale…” Asami looked around the banquet hall, but didn’t seem interested enough to stand.

“Anyway,” Bolin continued his train of thought from earlier. “I think Opal and I are gonna be great. Thank you for your advice though, Asami.” Bolin patted her on the shoulder one last time, “I should probably go talk to everyone else. Get the schmoozing with public officials out of the way while the night is still young.”

“I love you, Bolin.” Asami mumbles, hugging him from the side before he was able to escape. “But not as much as you, Korra.” She corrected, then latching onto her girlfriend. “Sorry Bolin.” She pouted back at Bolin, who made a gesture to indicate that it was no problem, and walked off.

A few seconds passed of Asami swirling around an empty glass, before Korra broke the silence. “Do you want to dance?”

“No…” Asami protested. “We should make out though.”

Before Korra could react, Asami lunged towards her lover, sitting fortunately very close, otherwise she might have fallen right out of her chair. Korra pushed her away gently. “You’re going to embarrass yourself and not even realize it until you wake up tomorrow and remember, and then you’re going to blame me for not stopping you.”

“No I won’t~” Asami leaned in for another kiss, but Korra blocked her with a conveniently placed palm. Asami looked nauseous, suddenly.

“Uh oh. I think we better head out.” Korra offered the firebender and his boyfriend an apologetic look, but they waved her off understandingly. “Tell Bolin congratulations for me. Tell me about all of the trouble you guys get into while we’re gone.”

When Asami woke up in the morning, her head was pounding.

She looked to her right and found four glasses of water on the nightstand. When she swung her feet over the side of the bed, she stepped in a thankfully empty bucket. Korra wasn’t in the bed next to her, so she frowned.

“Babe?” Asami barely whimpered as she walked into their living area. Korra was reading a newspaper and sitting on the couch. Asami glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly 10am already. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“I didn’t want you to puke all over me.” Korra admitted. Asami blushed.

“I didn’t mean to get that drunk. I don’t know why that happened.” She sat down next to her girlfriend, who put her arm around her. When Asami’s hair got too close to her face, she flinched.

“What?”

“Your hair is still a little puke-ey.” Asami frowned, and touched her now crunchy hair. She scrunched her nose and got up to walk towards the bathroom. Korra heard the shower start to run before Asami returned, wrapped only in a towel.

“I forgot to tell Bolin the marriage advice I read.” Asami pouted, and Korra laughed.

“No you didn’t.” Korra reassured her, and Asami didn’t let up.

“Did I tell him to compliment her every day?”

“Yes.”

“How about to tell her he loves her all the time?”

“Definitely.”

“Did I tell him they should have hot, steamy sex at least twice a week?” Korra peeked up from her newspaper then, laughing and intrigued. Asami’s towel was now on the floor. Korra blushed.

“That…” Korra inhaled deeply. “You did not.” Korra got up and headed towards the engineer, who put her hand out.

“Let me wash my hair first.” She said, and left the towel on the floor in the living room, “I’m disgusting.”

 

-XXXXX-

 

Wu was so drunk.

To put into perspective how drunk Wu was, he was too drunk to know whether or not Mako was more or less drunk than he was.

It was the evening following his depressing attempt at a coronation. He was not only publicly humiliated in front of every major world leader, but he also got his own suite downgraded by the Great Uniter, equal parts beautiful and terrifying.

The only real upside was that Mako stuck with him through the whole ordeal, and when Wu even went so far as to ask Mako to not leave him alone, not tonight, he obliged. It took some convincing, but after Wu had almost finished a bottle of Sake on his own, Mako finally agreed to join him.

“I hate you.” Wu whined, and Mako was just drunk enough to act indignant.

“What did I do?” Mako protested, but Wu just groaned into the cushion of the junior suite love seat. “I get the feeling you’re not going to tell me.” He took another shot, warmed with his firebending.

“I just,” Wu started, but his face went red. “I can’t.”

“You can’t just say something like that and then not elaborate.”

“It’s not really about you.” Wu confessed, not quite drunk enough to just come right out with it, but drunk enough to get dangerously close. “It’s me. I hate me.” He sighed and dramatically slid to a laying position on the couch. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Listen.” Mako started, “I know already way too much about you, and I don’t think anything you could say would be any more embarrassing than anything I already know about you.”

Wu looked at Mako, and then at the remaining alcohol in the second bottle, and after some hesitation he drank the last 1/4 of the bottle cold.

They had a silent stand off for a moment, Wu would open his mouth and then groan. Mako just seemed mostly amused at that point, which was even more annoying and frustrating for the Earth Prince.

“Okay, you know how I talk up a big game about the ladies, right?” Wu started, and Mako had an idea of where this was going before it even began.

“Wu is all about those dames, right?”

“Yeah…” Wu buried his face in his own sleeve for a second, inhaled deeply, and then confessed. “Not quite. I’m interested in men.” Mako seemed unfazed by this. “Exclusively.”

“Okay.” Mako said, and took another shot. “I don’t know what that has to do with me.” Wu was convinced that the firebender was being deliberately obtuse.

“I just find you really…” Wu was looking for the right word, but the alcohol hit his system all at once, seemingly. “Frustrating. Because I just want to…” He mimed grabbing Mako’s head and kissing him passionately on the lips, and Mako actually started laughing. “Why is that funny?” Wu whined, and Mako just inhaled sharply.

“I don’t know.” Mako got up from his chair, although it was a comfortable chair, and moved to the couch where Wu was laying, moving his legs to the floor. Wu forced himself to sit up then, even if he was drunk enough that the motion made him woozy. “I’m not saying i’d be like…” Mako confessed, and looked at his own lap, “against that, necessarily.”

It was a swift motion, Wu caressed Mako’s cheek for a brief second before he pulled his bodyguard’s face up against his own. He closed his eyes and took Mako’s upper lip between his own lips, and exhaled deeply.

Mako started moving more quickly, then. He hastily deepened the kiss, completely adjusting his posture so that he could tangle one of his hands in the Prince’s hair, and moved the other hand to Wu’s waist.

But suddenly, Wu's mood changed dramatically, and he pulled away.

“I don’t want you to kiss me if you don’t like me.” Wu said quickly, almost incomprehensibly. If Mako hadn’t already gotten used to the Prince’s quirks, he wouldn’t have heard it at all.

Mako just guiltily stared at his lap in silence, and Wu looked at him intently, hoping for any kind of emotion from the firebender’s face. He got nothing.

“You know what?” Wu finally came out with, breaking the tense silence. “I don’t even care if you like me. I just…” the prince faltered, almost shaky, “please kiss me.” Mako obliged.

The two of them stayed like that for hours, kisses ranging from chaste pecks to the kinds of kisses that leave you breathless and like your whole body is on fire.

Wu was tired, so, so tired, but he kept kissing though yawns.

“If you’re tired, you should go to sleep.” Mako joked, the fourth time Wu yawned with his mouth against Mako’s.

“I’m worried that if I go to sleep, this is going to end, and this won’t ever happen again.” He looked for any kind of expression from Mako again this time, but still got nothing. “At least cuddle with me.”

The two of them stumbled over to the bed, and lazily shed their outer clothes. Wu shuddered when he felt Mako’s breath on the back of his neck, but didn’t say anything. Mako draped his arm over the prince, and pulled him in closer.

When Wu went to sleep, he was sure he couldn’t have imagined the whole thing. The chemistry was too intense. They might have been drunk, but it felt too real to be just a drunken mistake.

When he woke up, he was the only one in the bed. Mako had since moved to the love seat for the night, and Wu couldn’t help but feel a little hurt.

When Mako woke up and said “I think this is a bad idea. It’s not very professional and I don’t want you to get hurt.” Wu was more than just hurt, he was heartbroken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to thank you guys for reading this! I've been trying to keep the tone as varied as possible, and really explore different aspects of these relationships, but if you have any suggestions please let me know! Thanks!


	5. E - Engagement

“You are unbelievable.”

It came out like a hiss, rather than an accusation, which isn’t necessarily what Mako intended, but probably reflected his feelings more accurately.

“I don’t know what’s you’re so upset about.” Wu dismissed whichever one of the Beifong twins he was previously all over. Whispering in his ear, touching his arm. It disgusted Mako just to think about. “We’re not even really together. You are the one that left me alone, two years ago, when I opened up to you. Then you started to come around, and I thought eventually you would tell me you were wrong, and that you knew we were right together. But you never did. So I have been taking that as some kind of indication. You like me, obviously, or else you wouldn’t call me your boyfriend when it’s convenient, but you don’t want me. I’m fun, but i’m not husband material. I’m not yours. So what exactly gives you the right to criticize me for what I do?”

It was late into the night, daylight was almost upon them. Korra and Asami had left the wedding, Bolin’s wedding, many hours ago, and most of the political figures in attendance went back to their own lives quite a while ago as well.

In that moment it was just Mako and Wu, within earshot at least, both sweaty from a night of drinking, dancing, and sleep deprivation.

“Well maybe it’s hard for me,” Mako looked down at his own feet, inhaled deeply, and looked back at the former prince with a new expression, one of guilt. “To see you all over other men all the time.”

“It’s hard for you?” Wu started, at first looking sympathetic, but then determined and skeptical. “I mean, I know it’s not really my place, and i’m glad you’re getting out there and having fun.” Mako admitted. “Which is good, I guess-“

“So why is that hard for you, exactly?” Wu stepped closer then. He crossed his arms, and raised his eyebrows. He looked more annoyed than curious. Mako remained silent, looking suspiciously emotional, and tried to avoid eye contact. “No, no.” Wu interrupted his attempt to evade the question. “I want you to look at me, and tell me exactly why it is that you are so bothered by this.” Mako remained silent. “I know you try so hard to keep up this tough guy image, and pretend you don’t have feelings, but look how that is working out for you.”

“You don’t know anything.” Mako started to tear up visibly now, and praised Raava for the lack of an audience to this display.

"I do, though.” Wu closed the gap between them even more this time, their foreheads almost touching. Wu could feel Mako’s shallow breaths on his own lips, and sighed deeply. “We have something special here, Mako. I know you don’t want to admit it.” Wu practically whispered. “I know you don’t want to be vulnerable, so you’re just going along with it, hoping I never realize that you are invested in this.” Wu gestured between the two of them. “In us.” He continued, “You want to just go along with it the rest of your life, never acknowledging what it really is, because you’re happy with me.” Wu was almost crying too, but he didn’t want to ruin his point by getting emotional. “But that’s not enough for me. I can’t live with this will he or won’t he nonsense. I need to know that i’m yours.” Wu grabbed Mako’s hand for effect. “And you’re mine.” Wu practically pleaded, “You know that we are meant for each other, so what are you waiting for?” Wu kissed him, but Mako pulled away immediately.

The two of them hovered for a moment, their faces inches apart, before Mako pulled away for real this time, and walked off.

When he stepped outside, he made a mental note of how much colder it was getting, and that he needed to unpack his coat from storage as soon as possible. He had to bend his hands to prevent them from getting uncomfortably numb, but he pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them, and he just shook his head. He shook his head the way someone would when they’re holding back tears. Not just any kind of tears, the kinds of tears that only find their way into existence when someone’s at home, under their blanket, releasing the sadness and anger and frustration that built up for years.

Wu followed Mako out, but didn’t say anything. Noticing his presence, but not turning to look at him, Mako practically whimpered over the threat of tears, “I want you to marry me.”

Wu stayed silent, shuffled his feet a bit on the cobblestone outside of the banquet hall. Mako turned around, and Wu noticed that his eyes were raw from what could have been tears, if he investigated more closely.

Noticing his lack of response, “Would you?” Mako added, “Please?”

Wu exhaled deeply and sat down next to the firebender, grabbed his scarred hand and put it in his own. “Yeah.” He rubbed at his palm with his thumb to calm him down like he usually did.

 

-XXXXX-

 

Asami considered putting her goggles on, but she secretly wanted to pretend that her eyes were watering from the heat coming off of the molten metal.

“I think it’s ready!” Asami shouted, and looked up at her business partner for confirmation. He gave her a thumbs up, from above the furnace, and she secured the mold in place. “Let’s do this!”

The metal poured slowly from the small crucible, and she held her breath while she filled the mold, careful not to let any excess spill over. When it finished, she inspected it from afar as it cooled slowly.

“We did it!” Varrick climbed down the stairs to where Asami stood, and patted her once on the back. “I present to you the first trinket made entirely out of Varrick-Future Steel.” He gestured towards the token shaped piece cooling in front of them.

“I hope it’s good enough.” Asami admitted, and Varrick chuckled.

“Of course it’s good enough, two of the world’s greatest engineers were behind it! It’s a scientific masterpiece. Not only is it impossibly cheap to produce,” Varrick started, getting a smile out of Asami, “But it’s also completely unbendable.” Varrick continued, putting his hand on her shoulder, “Which is a first! The best part, though, is that we hold the sole patent!”

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Asami sighed. The metal was starting to settle into it’s signature light blue color, indicating it was nearly cool enough to remove from the mold, Asami started to get impatient. “I hope Korra likes it.”

“From one Tribesman to a future one,” Varrick seemed awfully certain of that, “Every girl who grows up in a Water Tribe dreams about getting her betrothal necklace. It’s a tough expectation to meet.” Asami got visibly nervous, but Varrick kept speaking. “But they also know that it’s supposed to be a reflection of both them and their future spouse. It’s not the product…” Varrick shuddered, “…And i’ll never say this again, that counts. It’s the thought behind it.”

“I just want it to be perfect.” Asami walked over to the mold and popped out the light blue token. It depicted swirls of waves around the gear that represented the Future Industries logo. It was perfect. She positioned it into the lathe, and started to smooth down the edges as Varrick continued to give her advice.

“If i’ve ever seen a couple more destined for a perfect marriage than Zhu Li and I,” Varrick looked around then as if he was worried of her presence, and she made herself known, he added “not to say I have,” before she smiled and wandered off again. “It would be you and the Avatar.”

“You know, when I first realized I was in love with Korra,” Asami smiled fondly to herself, “It was when I saw you and Zhu Li together at your wedding. I realized it because I finally recognized that I couldn’t see a life for myself without her in it.”

Once the edges were sufficiently smooth, she started to glue the diamonds in place. When it was finished, she attached the medallion to a dark blue dyed leather band, as was traditional, and she put it into a jewelry box for safekeeping.

“Propose someplace nice, not somewhere cheesy and overdone.” Varrick stated finally.

“Thank you for your help, Varrick.” Asami said, honestly, before she left, and not for the first time, but she already knew exactly how this plan was going to be executed.

The first place she stopped when she left the factory was Bolin’s office. He was about to leave work himself, but he promised he would be where she asked him to be.

The second place she stopped was the police station. Mako assured her that Wu and their lovely daughter Yin would be there as well. Before she could head off to her next destination, Mako stopped her.

“I’m really happy for you two.” Mako put his hand on Asami’s shoulder and smiled. “I am so glad that you two were able to find love in each other.”

“That’s awfully sappy of you, Mako.” Asami joked, but he brushed it off.

“Getting married and having a kid changes a man.” He confessed, and she smiled.

“Well that’s really mature of you to say.” She put her own hand over his, “I know you weren’t exactly excited about the idea of Korra and I from the beginning.”

“It took some getting used to.” Mako laughed. “I’ll admit that much. But i’m glad I did.”

The next stop was Air Temple Island. It was not difficult convincing Pema and the kids to tag along, while Tenzin was skeptical of the safety of the idea.

Asami waited for Korra at the spirit portal. Korra was in meetings all day with the president over her proposition for the new spirit wilds. She looked exhausted when she finally turned up, but brightened when she saw her lover. “What are we doing at the spirit portal?” Korra asked, and Asami smiled mischievously. She grabbed Korra by the hands and pulled her closer to the beam of light. They were half standing in the portal itself, half in the physical realm, when Asami pulled out the box.

“I wanted to ask you something important.” Asami opened the box to reveal the betrothal necklace, and Korra squeaked.

“Yes!” Korra said without even letting Asami finish. “Of course. Yes. Yes yes yes.” Asami took the necklace out of the box and fastened it behind Korra’s neck.

“It looks stunning on you.” Asami pulled Korra in for a kiss and took another step backwards, fully submerging them in the glow of the spirit portal. When Korra stumbled backwards and opened her eyes, she realized she was in the spirit world. Completely surrounded by her very excited friends and family. Her eyes started to water, but Asami was just beaming.

It would be the start of a new adventure for the two of them, but at least they’d have their friends alongside them every step of the way.


	6. F - Family

Korra never liked going to the Northern Water Tribe.

They had long since gotten used to the idea of Korra and Asami in the South. While Korra certainly had to get over her gut reaction of violence every time she heard “well no surprise there,” it was nowhere near the amount of resistance she felt in the North. The North was always old fashioned, but something about being rejected by her own people kept her up at night.

She wasn’t completely sure why she had been called to the Northern Water Tribe, but she was also told that it was not optional. Asami’s name was surprisingly on the invitation, but Korra considered that they just realized she would be coming along anyway.

“I know you hate this,” Asami rubbed Korra’s arm affectionately. “But it’s your job as the Avatar, and it will all be over soon.”

“I feel like there should be some kind of maternity leave for the Avatar.” Korra joked, pointing at her own stomach.

“It’s not like you’ll be facing off against your own cousins in battle. It’s probably just a diplomatic meeting.” Asami dismissed her complaining, Korra pouted.

“What are we here for, anyway?” Korra asked their escort, a tall Northern Water Tribe guard.

“The chiefs are making an important announcement involving you and your family. We are on our way to meet many important people for dinner.” He said sternly, not even making eye contact with her. The disgust in his voice just put them both on edge.

It only just dawned on her when she realized he had mentioned her family. It must have been about her mother. While Tonraq had passed a few years ago, Senna had only just passed a few weeks ago. Korra had been particularly offended that neither of her cousins had made it to the funeral, but the hurt feelings had mostly cooled over by that point. Apparently, they weren’t completely heartless and horrible.

“It must be about your mom.” Asami thought out loud, Korra nodded.

“Must be.” Korra agreed, only to be interrupted by their escort.

“Did you not bring your son, Ms. Sato?” He asked, and the two of them were suddenly livid.

“ _Our_ son.” Korra said immediately.

“ _Mrs_. Sato.” Asami said at the same time. He disregarded their concerns. They seethed quietly.

“I’ll take that as a no.” He broke the silence.

“He’s staying with family.” Asami answered, still annoyed.

“I don’t mean to be rude, ma’am,” he seemed confused by something in that sentence, “but if I recall correctly, neither of your parents are still alive, and you are an only child. Unless you mean the father’s family.”

“There are no fathers. Korra and I are his mothers. He is staying with our chosen family, our dear friend Bolin and his wife. Does that satisfy your curiosity,” Asami paused for dramatic effect, “Sir?” She spat.

“I’ll never understand you people from the United Republic.” He muttered as he opened the door and walked off.

“I don’t expect you to.” Korra spoke under her breath.

Asami just reassuringly patted her on the shoulder. “It’s only one night. We can survive a few jerks for that long. You defeated the Equalists, Unavaatu, the Red Lotus, and Kuvira. I believe in you.” Korra smiled at her wife, and even though they were in front of a hundred disapproving people, she grabbed her hand and kissed her.

“Now that the guests of honor have arrived,” Eska stood and lifted her glass in the general direction of the two of them, now embarrassed. “My brother and I can begin our announcement.”

“It has long been the shame of our chiefdoms that our positions were achieved through nefarious means,” Desna started, “But sister and I intend to make amends for the mistakes of our father.” Korra sat down once she found the seat with her name on it.

“You all know that neither Desna nor I have married.” Eska interrupted, and Korra shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “Neither of us have had children. Honestly, neither of us intend to. Our line ends here. But Korra’s,” Korra looked shocked, and turned to her wife only to be met with an equally shocked expression. “Hers is just beginning. As Tonraq was truly the heir to the throne, it is Korra’s place by birthright, and we would be honored if she would take it.”

Korra remained silent. “Korra,” Desna added, “I know our relationship has been strained since childhood, but both our parents and yours have passed, you are the only family we have left. While the North can be very stuck in their ways, we hope that your new family would be a part of ours, too.”

Asami started crying not so secretly. She shoved a moderately pregnant Korra out of her chair, and Korra stumbled to the front table where her cousins sat.

“While i’m honored,” She spoke to both the crowd and her cousins, “I’m the Avatar, and my responsibility is to the whole world, not just the Water Tribe.” They might have been disappointed, but they didn’t show it. “That said…” Korra thought for a moment, “If _either_ of my children decide they want to take you up on this offer, I won’t hold them back. Is that alright with you?”

“Some things would need to be worked out, however, that would be fine.” Essa spoke, the twins shared a look of mutual content, but not really excitement.

Most of the crowd cheered reluctantly, but a few cheered enthusiastically. That was progress.

-XXXXX-

Wu fell in love with Mako’s family before he fell in love with Mako.

Wu’s dad always told him that there were two kinds of people he should never listen to: those who give unconditional adoration, and those who give unconditional condemnation. Neither of those kinds of people actually respected him or saw him as a human being.

In Wu’s life, there were few people who didn’t fall into either category.

First, it was his father. His dad was always critical of his actions. Not cruel, not at all, but he also did not hesitate to tell Wu what he needed to hear. While this made Wu grow more close to his mother in his younger years, in hindsight, his father never gave Wu judgement without an undercurrent of love and respect. It was something he really wished he appreciated more while his parents were still around.

Second, it was Mako. While at first he dismissed the criticism from the older fire bender as the mindless condemnation he had been warned about, he eventually learned to appreciate it and to recognize the love underneath that, too.

But before he was able to realize that Mako truly had his best interests in mind, he was moved to the Sato estate to wait out the conflict with Kuvira.

There’s only so much adoration one could get from an elderly woman before the rest of Mako and Bolin’s family started to take him down a peg.

It was at some point after hearing the story about Mako’s relationship troubles with Korra and Asami. While he felt wholly unthreatened by two of them, the entire discussion left him with a bad taste in his mouth. The way Mako talked about the women made Wu wonder if there was even any space left in Mako’s heart for him.

Wu was primping before bed when one of Mako’s cousins, Tu, wandered in and chuckled at the display. Admittedly, Wu had a complex and high effort nightly regimen.

“That sure seems like a lot of effort for going to sleep.” Tu started, before picking up his own toothbrush and running it under the tap.

“It is a lot of effort, but totally worth it.” Wu slathered on a moisturizer as his final step before brushing his own teeth.

“Yeah, i’m sure that’s how you get all of the, ahem-“ scare quotes “ladies,” end scare quotes “right?”

“I don’t know what that is supposed to mean.” Wu started the tap on his own sink.

“You’re more fruity than my produce cart.” Tu chuckled with a mouth full of saliva and toothpaste.

“Well I will have you know-“ The prince almost started a rant before he was cut off.

“Dude.” Tu gestured for him to stop talking. “You don’t have to hide it. We all figured it out a while ago.”

“I don’t know how.” Wu unintentionally confessed.

“Probably has something to do with the fact that you’re in love with my cousin.” Tu chuckled and spit out his toothpaste.

“Is it that obvious?” Wu sighed deeply.

“Kind of.” Tu smiled sympathetically, “If it makes you feel any better, I think he feels the same way.”  

“Pfff.” Wu dismissed his claim. “If that were the case, he wouldn’t be torturing me like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s… I don’t know the word.” Wu turned off the sink and gave Tu his full attention. “Confusing? Cryptic?”

“Enigmatic?” Tu suggested, and Wu, impressed by the vocabulary choice, nodded.

“Exactly. His actions don’t match his words. I have no idea how to take it.” Wu groans. “He says he doesn’t want a relationship with me and he won’t talk about how he feels about me or about us and then when we’re alone and it’s late at night he’ll kiss me and it will be awesome-” Tu scrunched his nose. “Sorry.”

“I don’t know Mako much better than you do.” Tu confessed, “But I think he’s just bad with people.” Wu considered that for a minute, “Maybe he thinks his actions are speaking for him.”

“That’s just so frustrating.” Wu whined, and Tu laughed. “And that doesn’t change the fact that he acts like i’m the most annoying person on the planet most of the time.”

“Maybe it’s because you are kinda annoying.” Wu frowned. “I mean, you’ve got a lot of growing up to do if you want him to come around.” Wu maintained his expression. “Or, you know, rule a nation.” He thought for a second and continued. “Honestly, I think if you can really show him that you can be serious, he might realize what he’s missing.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?” Wu asked honestly. Tu rinsed his toothbrush and put it in the dish by the sink.

“Because you’re like a cousin to me, too.” Wu smiled, “And us guys who like guys have to stick together, yeah?” Wu gave him a confused nod, and the earth bender patted him on the shoulder as he walked out of the room.

As Wu walked back to his own room, he overheard a conversation in one of the living areas.

_“Don’t break his heart like you did the Avatar and the Heiress, I don’t want any grandson of mine to do something like that to royalty. He’s much too sweet for that."_

_“I don’t know what you’re talking about, grandma. I’m Wu’s bodyguard, nothing more.”_

_“You lie just like your father.”_

In addition to the small amount of hope, Wu realized he finally found something else he had been looking for: Family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update! I've been a bit busy this week. Hopefully two chapters makes up for it.


	7. G - Grandchildren

It was Mako’s 50th birthday.

Well, it was a few hours after Mako’s 50th birthday.

Bolin had convinced everyone to get back together to celebrate, if only for dinner, and it had _mostly_ been a great evening. Until Bolin decided to ask Mako and Wu’s daughter, direct quote, “So when are you planning on making me a granduncle?”

After some awkward throat clearing, and a reassuring glance from Yin’s wife, Yin decided to announce her decision not to have children.

While the answer appeased pretty much everyone in attendance, Mako remained suspiciously quiet. Wu considered outright asking what was wrong, but decided to wait until later to bring it up again.

“I just think she’s being selfish.” Mako admitted, later in their bedroom, after most of the guests had left.

“I don’t know about that.” Wu protested. “It’s actually kind of selfless if you think about it. They’re ending two royal families at once. It’s actually bringing about the progressive change we’ve always wanted. I’m proud of her.”

“I get that. But you know what else would have worked? Her wife stepping down as Fire Lord when the time comes.”

“We, of all people, know that doesn’t really change anything. The Earth Kingdom doesn’t even exist anymore and i’m still considered royalty. Yin is still considered royalty.”

“Maybe we should have had more children. I don’t know.” Mako’s voice started to waver. “But in 25 years when she’s my age, she’s going to wish she had family around.” Mako thought of the dinner just a few hours earlier, and how he felt surrounded by his brother’s family, and his daughter.

“Are you saying you don’t consider me family?” Wu crossed his arms, Mako sighed.

“Of course I do. That’s not my point-“

“But it is. Yin has Kyo. I think they’ll get by alright with each other.”

Mako thought of the princesses, who were almost certainly entangled with one another in the guest room as they spoke. He saw the same love in their eyes that he used to see between Bolin and Opal, or Korra and Asami. But he had fantasized about seeing his daughter see her own child for the first time. He wanted her to experience the same thing he did when he first laid his eyes on her. He wanted her to experience seeing her wife with their child for the first time, the same way he saw Wu.

Maybe it was selfish of him. Maybe he needed to let go of his dream for her future and let her take on her own path. It’s not like he expected her to leave Republic City and move to the Fire Nation, let alone marry the Fire Lord’s daughter.

But he also thought back to all of the things he selectively ignored. Like how she always scrunched her nose when she heard a baby cry, or how she always vehemently protested when someone asked her to watch their kids. How when her cousins were playing with baby dolls, she never joined in.

Mako gave Wu a shaky sigh before digging his face into his husband’s shoulder. “I just hope she’s not going to regret her decision.”

“I don’t think she will. We raised her to think things through.” Wu hugged the Police Chief once more, and Mako stood to go grab a drink.

Surprisingly, Yin was sitting at the kitchen table in her pajamas, looking down into her tea, when Mako walked in.

“Can’t sleep?” Mako asked, and when she lifted her head he could tell she had been crying.

“You’re not mad at me?” She looked like she was going to cry again before he sat down next to her.

“Of course not…” Mako pulled her into a hug. “I could never be mad at you. You’re my daughter.”

She exhaled deeply, and visibly relaxed. “I was worried you’d be upset. I know family is so important to you…”

“You have me, and your father, and your uncle, and your cousins, and Kyo.” Mako was mostly convincing himself, but she didn’t seem to notice. “I think you’ll be okay.”

“It means a lot. To both of us.” Neither Mako nor Yin noticed that Kyo had been standing there, or for how long, but she interrupted. “Happy birthday, dad, sir.”

Yin turned around to face Kyo and smiled, and Mako wondered how Yin could possibly be so much like her other father when they weren’t even biologically related. He realized it was in the way she looked at her wife, the same way Wu looked at him. That was all it really took to convince him.

Yin had all of the family she’d ever need.

-XXXXX-

Asami missed working, but she loved spending time with her grandkids more.

Ever since she gave the company away to her oldest son, Hiro, she had taken on the full time job of babysitting his three kids. Two girls and a boy.

Seeing so much of Hiro’s kids helped ease the pain of rarely seeing her other grandkids, Tomkin’s in the Northern Water Tribe, but she made a point of putting up with the cold a few times a year to spend time with them as well.

While she and Korra put a lot of effort into keeping the identities of the boys’ fathers to themselves, neither Korra nor Asami were all that surprised when Hiro married his brilliant and fiercely loyal assistant.

Where Asami was more interested in the engineering side of her company, Hiro was always much more adept to the business side of things. He was charismatic in a way that was indescribable. To mix a few metaphors, he could talk a brick wall into selling someone a glass of water in the desert. His wife was also quite the workaholic, but was more of an engineer as well. Asami knew the company was in good hands.

His new responsibilities and schedule left her with her grandkids a lot more often, though, so it felt like a win-win for everyone.

“Did I ever tell you guys the story of how I met your grandmother?” Korra started, and Asami felt the youngest girl wriggle out of her arms and towards the Avatar, who was speaking to the oldest girl and the middle boy. “She hit my friend Mako with her motorcycle!” Korra exclaimed for emphasis. “They started dating shortly after, and I was so jealous!” Asami blushed, she definitely tried to forget that part of her life.

“Of Mako, of course.” Asami added, and Korra laughed.

“Of Asami, actually. I had a teensy crush on Mako at the time, you see. When I first met her all I could think was that she was so beautiful, I could never compete.”

“Oooh, what happened with you and Mako?” the oldest girl asked, and Korra waved it off.

“We dated for a while, but it didn’t work out. It wasn’t until after I fought the Red Lotus and Asami took care of me that I realized how much I liked her.” Korra looked over at Asami, who smiled. “Then, after we fought Kuvira and won, we went on a vacation to the Spirit World, and the rest is history.”

“That was boring!” The boy exclaimed, and Korra pulled him onto her lap. “Not enough action!”

“Why don’t I tell you the story about when Asami and I crashed an airship in the desert and were stranded with enemy forces, all the while trying to escape a hungry sandshark?”

While she would never be able to compete with the exciting tales of the Avatar, as the day settled down and the youngest girl fell asleep in Asami’s lap, she knew that her life could not have been any better.


	8. H - Habits

It ended up being things that annoyed her the most about Asami that Korra fell in love with.

At first, Korra was genuinely annoyed when Asami would steal her pants, mostly because they weren’t even Asami’s size and she would be glad to buy her a pair, if she asked, but she never did. Korra’s clothes would just disappear until she’d see Asami walking around the house in a pair of sweats that barely came down her calves.

It wasn't limited to pants. Korra’s jackets would go missing, too. One time she needed to attend a very important diplomatic meeting in the Northern Water Tribe, and Asami had somehow snuck her favorite coat out of her bag. She ended up spending an extra 200 Yuans on a new one, and that ended up being one of Asami’s signature clothing pieces. It actually showed up on the front cover of a magazine, for Spirits’ sake.

Whenever she confronted her about it, all Asami had to say for herself was “they remind me of you, it’s nice,” and she couldn’t be mad at her anymore. Other than the frustration of knowing that everything she owned looked better on Asami, somehow.

The other thing that took some getting used to was Asami’s morning routine. Namely, how she expected Korra to do everything for her every morning, even though Asami got to work at least an hour before sunrise and Korra usually had no reason to be awake that early.

She thought it was a little bit ridiculous at first, when it was just the two of them, and Asami would ask Korra to wake up early and make her coffee every day. But she didn’t know true struggle, not until they had two kids and Asami’s business was suddenly more busy than ever.

Korra was not only supposed to be the Avatar, peacemaker of all nations, bridge between the spirit world and their world, master of all elements, but also a housewife.

Asami would wake up every morning, practically looking for something to get angry at. Although Korra would always make sure to have coffee prepared and within reach of her wife within the first few minutes of her waking, it never seemed to be early enough. When she finally made her way out of the shower, dressed, and to the kitchen, Asami would find some reason to complain about breakfast, or how the kids weren’t ready for school yet, or how Korra forgot some other small and insignificant detail about the day that Asami somehow knew ahead of time, but never thought to mention.

But every once in a while, the coffee would be ready and on her nightstand BEFORE Asami woke up. She would get dressed without issue, and make it downstairs to a calm household. Both of their kids would be ready for their day. Maybe Korra made breakfast, too. But Asami wouldn’t have anything to complain about, and she’d sigh contentedly while she slipped on her boots and walked out the door.

The only thing better than that contented sigh was the high five Korra got from both of her sons before she walked them to school, “ _We did it!_ ”

The final thing, that she swore she would never compromise on, was Asami’s inability to clean up after herself. Or close anything. Cabinets, doors, drawers, lids, it didn’t matter. It was almost like her brain moved too quickly for her body. She made a mess everywhere she went. It was literally the most annoying thing in the entire universe. Korra even left notes on things, hoping that she'd get the hint.

But deep down there was something really satisfying about following her around and cleaning up her messes, both literally and metaphorically, even if it made Korra want to punch her sometimes. It was like Korra brought just enough order to Asami’s chaos. Both of them were so busy, all the time, that having some regularity in their domestic life balanced it all out, somehow. Practically, they fit together perfectly.

Also, Asami secretly cherished Korra’s passive aggressive notes in the morning.

-XXXXX-

There was a good amount of time when Yin was convinced her fathers were going to break up.

It started at school, when she overheard a classmate worrying about their own parents. “They fight all the time,” they said, “I know that’s the first sign.”

Yin was immediately terrified. Not only did her dads fight, they were literally never not fighting.

Most kids knew the difference between _fighting_ and _arguing_ by her age, but she didn’t really have much experience with real fighting. She never witnessed (or pretended not to witness) the kinds of fights her peers were talking about. The kinds of fights where both parties left crying and sweaty and furious. The kinds of fights where sometimes people even left injured. No, her dads weren’t like that.

But they were still arguing, constantly.

When she was a teenager, she thought Mako was some kind of bigot. Not because of his actions, but because he always seemed to take the position in any debate that was inexcusable in her teenage eyes. Mind you, she was a passionate young girl raised by an equally passionate former world leader. As a result of that, and as a result of being a teenager, she thought that her beliefs were the only beliefs worth having. One evening at the dinner table, Mako tried to make a legitimate case for the Fire Nation re the Hundred Year War. She stormed off, frustrated, only to hear her parents laughing in the background.

It wasn’t much later that she realized they did this for sport. They could argue about the color of the sky, if they really wanted to. They argued about things that mattered a lot, things that barely mattered at all, things only mattered if you really thought about it. If there could be a debate, there was one. Despite this, there was never any malice in their arguing. She could tell that if either of them were getting annoyed or upset, or if it was getting too personal, they would change the subject. It was such a strange phenomenon that she even decided to bring it up with her uncle, once.

“Did my dad argue as often when he was younger?” She asked, “You know, for fun?”

“I don't think so...” He reflected, “I guess he would call people out when they were being stupid, but I think the whole _debating_ thing is really a Wu thing.”

“Huh,” She was unsatisfied with that answer. “I wonder why that is.”

“Probably because Wu gets all preachy if Mako doesn’t step in. That guy would talk forever if no one interrupted him.” Yin thought about it and laughed. That sounded about right. “I don’t think Mako actually disagrees with Wu. I think being a contrarian is just a lot more fun for him.”

“Yeah, but they do it all the time!” Yin complained, “It’s annoying.”

“It’s cute, in it’s own way.” Bolin argued, “They’ve been doing it for so long, I think it’s just habit to them now.”

The next day, she walked in on her dads arguing yet again. Wu bought Mako a shirt.

“I didn’t ask you to buy me a shirt.”

“You didn’t have to ask me, I bought it for you anyway. It looks good on you.”

“Yeah, maybe, according to you.” Mako even added a scoff, for emphasis.

“And I have objectively the best taste in the universe. So your opinion,” Wu paused for dramatic effect, “is invalid.”

“I’m sure.” Mako said dismissively. They shared a look of both amusement and infatuation, before their daughter interrupted them.

“Get a room!” When they chuckled at her, she groaned, but she would look back on that memory fondly.


	9. I - Insecurities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel obligated to point out that the second half of this chapter might be triggering for people with eating disorders. While I wouldn't say that the character necessarily has an eating disorder, they do have an unhealthy body image and relationship with food and I don't want any readers to get hurt. You've been warned. 
> 
> Also, the first half of this chapter officially makes one of my one shots, Forever, a part of the canon of this storyline.

When Asami’s first words, standing in the doorway of Air Temple Island, the night before Varrick and Zhu Li’s wedding, were “Mako, can we talk?” A wave of panic shot through him.

“Asami, listen. I know things have always been complicated between us, but we’re over, and I think I might like someone el-“

“I-“ Asami started, interrupting. “No. That’s not why I’m here.”

“Oh.” Asami moved to sit next to him on the bed, kept inhaling as if she was going to speak, but stopped. It reminded him of Wu, the night of his coronation. He pushed that memory aside and Mako was wondering why she was there, with him of all people. While they were both similar in personality, neither of them were necessarily the types of people who talked about their feelings.

“I think I have feelings for Korra?” Asami said, as if it were a question and not a statement. She looked over at Mako, trying to read his expression, but he seemed mostly indifferent. “You’re not upset?”

“Honestly,” Mako sighed. “I’ve been over you and Korra for a long time now. I don’t really care what you do. It’s a little strange, I guess.” He confessed, relief washed over her and she perked up. “I’m not happy about it or anything, but it’s not like it's any of my business.”

“Good, I think i’m going to tell her tomorrow.” She added, “At the wedding.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Mako asked, she frowned. “I mean, what if she doesn’t feel the same way?”

“I’ll just have to get over it, I guess…”

“Or even worse, if she _thinks_ she feels the same way, but then when she gets to know you better, realizes you’re not who she thought you were, that you’re just average and uninteresting and unimpressive, she leaves you and you never recover?”

“Why do I get the feeling we aren’t talking about me and Korra anymore?” She pouted, and Mako looked away.

“It’s nothing.”

“I think _you_ ,” Asami fake scoffed, “have feelings for someone, too.” She accused.

“That’s probably an overstatement.”

“Well if you’re worried about being unimpressive,” She chuckled at the very notion, “which is ridiculous, you’ve helped prevent the end of the world at least 4 times,” he scrunched his nose at that, something he didn’t necessarily consider an accomplishment, “you shouldn’t be. I mean, I dated you.”

“But we broke up.”

“Because of me, not you.” She remembered fondly, maybe cringing a bit at the idea, “And because of that, I got to meet Korra. Everyone wins.” He wondered for a moment if that was her plan all along, to date him to get close to Korra, but he is pretty certain that wasn't the case. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you planned. "But enough about us. Tell me about this mysterious person."

“I know there’s attraction there. We’ve kissed before, and it was…” Mako closed his eyes, not wanting to see Asami’s reaction, “… something else. Completely different than anything i’ve ever done before. Not comparable.” She smiled at him, “I just don’t want…” Mako followed with a mumbly noise, completely incomprehensible by Asami, she assumed it was a name, “… to get disappointed, or hurt, and hate me for it.” When she didn’t respond, he continued. “I’m hardly even a cop, I don’t come from an important family, I barely have a few hundred Yuans to my name.” He thought about Wu's life back in Ba Sing Se, the extravagance of it, how all of his acquaintances were nobles and royalty, and how horribly he would fit into that. He couldn’t fit into that. How was the future King of the Earth Kingdom support to be with an orphan from Republic City?

“You can’t make their decision for them. If they are attracted to you, and it sounds like they are, it’s their choice to go along with it. If they change their mind, worst case scenario is you break up and are a little heartbroken for a while.” Mako sucked the air in through his teeth, hard. “Which,” Asami looked over at him and smiled sadly, “It sounds like is what you’re afraid of. But look at it this way. What sounds worse?” She holds up a finger for emphasis “One, going through with it and seeing what happens, getting rejected now or later, and being heartbroken for a while…” She holds up a second finger, “Or Two, not doing anything, and spending the rest of your life heartbroken, without closure, wondering what could have happened if you just went for it.”

“I don’t know if i’m in deep enough that I’ll necessarily be heartbroken forever, though.”

“Let me put it this way, I have a theory,” She started, and Mako readjusted himself on the bed. “Some people think that love is like a slow build. That you start out notionally open to the idea of being with someone, and then that grows into attraction, and then you make the decision to go for it. But I don’t think it works that way. I think that as soon as you’re even considering being with someone, seriously, you already have feelings for them. You’re already in love. If you see someone you imagine yourself waking up next to them, or brushing their hair behind their ear, or having them roll into you in the middle of the night and not roll back, that’s it. You don’t have a choice, you need to see it through or they’ll be the one that got away.” Mako tried to pretend, outwardly, that he wasn’t thinking about Wu while she spoke. Asami couldn’t even pretend she wasn’t thinking about Korra, as was evident in her dream-like way of speaking.

“I guess I have a lot to think about.” He confessed, not really agreeing with her yet.

She nodded. “And in the meantime, you can listen to me talk about Korra, because honestly, your Wu drama does not interest me.” She laughed, and while Mako was shocked she could see right through him, he was grateful that things could be easy like this, between them.

-XXXXX-

This time, it was Mako standing in Asami’s doorway. They weren’t at Air Temple Island, it was Asami’s house, and he was standing there with his daughter, at least 8 years old by now, and he was smiling warmly at her. She just felt guilty as she blinked at him through hazy eyes.

“Come in,” She insisted, and put her hair up into a loose bun with the hair tie on her wrist. “Tomkin is sleeping, and Hiro is in his room.” She addressed Yin, but she seemed uninterested, “Which is a blessing in disguise… now that Hiro can talk, I don’t know if he’ll ever stop talking. Can I get you two anything?” Mako smiled and shook his head.

“No, that’s fine.” Mako sat down in her living room, and Asami sat down across from him. “Yin, sweetie, do you want to go play with Hiro? Just for a bit, while the grown ups talk?” She nodded hesitantly and walked off, slowly. “I just heard that Korra was out of town for two weeks, and Wu had plans tonight with some of his other friends, so I thought i’d drop by and see how you were doing.”

Asami smiled, the two of them never really spent time together without their spouses with them, not since that night before Varrick’s wedding, but she really was fond of the firebender. “I’m doing alright. It’s strange not having Korra around, but I’ve gotten a bit used to it after all of these years. She is the avatar, after all.” Asami reached for the tea cup she had left on the coffee table before she answered the door, and Mako noticed her hand was shaking.

“Are you sure?” The tone of his voice went from polite concern to genuine concern, and Asami shifted uncomfortably.

“I’m just tired…” Asami assured him, but he didn’t become chief of police at age 28 by not recognizing a lie. Curiously, he glanced over at the kitchen, watching her facial expression as he went. Her eyes went wide.

“When was the last time you ate?” He asked, and she defensively slammed her cup on the table.

“Who do you think you are, coming into my home and making accusations?”

“I’m just worried about you. Korra isn’t here to be worried, so someone has to be.”

Resigned, Asami slumped back in her own chair and frowned at the coffee table in front of them. “I don’t have a problem.” He raised his eyebrow skeptically, but she continued, “I really don’t. I just…” her voice started to falter, “Tomkin was only born three months ago, and Korra is already back to her normal, perfect shape, Avatar self.” Asami frowned. “Hiro was born three years ago, and I’ve still not lost the baby weight. I feel gross. Korra was going to be gone for a few weeks, so I figured I would surprise her.” She confessed, and Mako looked annoyed.

“By starving yourself?!”

“I just don’t feel… sexy, anymore. Like when Korra looks at me she sees Asami, the mother of her children, not Asami, her hot wife.”

Mako got up and sat next to her on the couch she inhabited. He put his hand on her shoulder and she sighed deeply, “You’re beautiful. I’m sure Korra still thinks you’re beautiful, and she wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself just to fit into a smaller dress size or whatever.”

Asami seemed annoyed by his dismissiveness of her feelings, but knew that he had her best interest at heart, and was helping in the only way he knew how. “Thanks, Mako.” They sat there silently for a few minutes.

“I should probably head home, Yin has school tomorrow…” He looked at her, waiting for any amount of protest.

“Can I trust you to eat something if I leave?”

“Yeah,” She didn’t think she was lying, “Go, i’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” Asami couldn’t help but see that he looked a lot like Bolin in that moment, completely trusting of her to do the right thing, even if he maybe shouldn’t.

When he left, she boiled water for noodles, but she got distracted putting her kids to bed, and then catching up on some paperwork, and fell asleep on the couch while they went cold on the kitchen counter.

It’s the first time since Tomkin is born that he slept through the night.

She woke up, surprised, to the sound of oil in a heated pan. Terrified, she shot up.

“Who's there?” She squinted and rubbed her eyes to see Korra standing at the stove in the kitchen, adjacent to the living room where Asami had fallen asleep. Korra didn't turn around to face her. “You're home a week early."

“Yeah.” Korra stated flatly, not sharing Asami's enthusiasm. “Mako called me last night, I just got here a few hours ago.”

“Oh.” Asami scratched her scalp, feeling extremely guilty. Of course Mako called her. “Where are the kids?”

“With Bolin, for the day.” Korra sighed loudly and cracked an egg into the pan. “What were you thinking, Asami?” Korra turned to look at her, but Asami didn’t make eye contact.

The two of them stood like that for a few moments, before Korra had to turn back around to her cooking. “I thought you weren't attracted to me anymore."

“Even if I weren’t, which I am, that’s still no reason to starve yourself.”

Asami frowned at her hands in her lap. “I feel like you're ashamed of me, you bounced right back after having Tomkin and i’ve just gotten bigger.”

“I work out for 5 hours a day, of course I lost weight. You have an actual job and responsibilities, you don't have time to obsess over how you look. You're the CEO of the biggest company in the world, you are an awesome mom, and you're the best wife an avatar could ever have. Who cares if you don't fit in the same pants you did when you were 19?” Korra wasn’t talking to her as much as at her, but that was how they talked most of the time, anyway.

“You don’t look at me the same way you used to.” Asami confessed, and Korra let out a shaky sigh.

“Of course I don’t. Back when we first got together, it was mostly lust. When we got engaged, it was love. Now it’s all of those things, too, but it’s also respect. I look at you and see someone who does so much, and of course that changes how I look at you.” Korra plated the eggs and turned around. “I still find you sexy as hell, though.” Korra frowned. “Maybe I've been neglecting my role as your wife lately, with all of this political drama in the Earth Republic, and somehow I made you feel this way, but I’m sorry."

“Thank you.” Asami smiled sadly, and Korra sat down next to her, pulling Asami’s blanket over her legs after setting the plates down on the coffee table.

“Now, are you going to eat something?” Asami had been eyeing the plate of eggs, and nodded hesitantly.

When she took the first bite, the blood sugar rushed straight to her brain. She ate the rest in a few seconds. She laughed embarrassedly, but under the blanket, Korra rubbed her foot on Asami’s leg, and smiled seductively at her wife.


	10. J - Justice

Asami found out before she even came into work, but it didn't really sink in until Hiro burst through the doors of her office at 9 in the morning.

“What is this??” He practically demanded of her, waving a letter in his hand. He slammed it on the table, and looked up at her as if he was heartbroken. She folded the letter before shoving it in the top drawer of her desk.

“You don't need to worry about this yet. You should be at school.”

“Who cares about school? You’re going to lose the whole company!” He might have been pretending not to cry, “Our whole company.”

“I know you don’t realize it, but I am the CEO of this company, and it is _my_ job to see that this company survives these accusations.”

“Clearly you’re unqualified.” He glared at her, and she had to remind herself that he was a teenager, and didn't know what he was saying. “They’re accusing you and Varrick of being anticompetitive, mom. They’re saying Future Industries is a monopoly.” He was practically shouting at her then, his chest rising and falling visibly, and she let him get his frustration out. She didn't deserve it, but she’d rather take the hit than someone else. “I don’t know how you expect me to sit around and learn calculus while you have all of this going on here.”

“You’re only 17, Hiro.” She reminded him, giving him the firm look that meant, without debate, ‘we are done here’. He was unsatisfied with the conversation, but left, slamming the door behind him.

She buried her face in her hands as soon as she knew he was out of earshot.

Korra didn’t find out until later that night. She didn’t get home until nearly 2am, and found Asami awake and stressed on the living room couch.

After talking for a few hours, Korra went to find her oldest son, but he wasn’t in his room. When she found her younger son asleep the next room over, she rustled him awake softly.

“I think he’s in the workshop behind the house, with Li Min…” he said, before she even had the opportunity to ask where his brother was. She praised Raava for her younger son’s straightforwardness, because she didn’t have the patience to coax an answer out of him.

When she opened the door, she found Li Min and Hiro sitting on the ground. Hiro wrote something in his notebook, not looking up to see who walked into the room, and his feet were in Li Min’s lap. Li Min was bending some highly reflective metal into an impossibly thin disc.

“Think about it, a radio receiver hardly 100 cubic centimeters in size, you could put it in a biplane, or even better, we could make a fully electronic calculator small enough to carry around with you…” Hiro spoke to the bender, who smiled and nodded. “We’re really onto something here, Li Min”

When she noticed that Korra had entered the room, she faltered, and snapped the thin disc in half. Frustrated, she crumpled it like foil in her pocket, and moved Hiro’s feet out of her lap.

“I need to speak to Hiro.” Li Min nodded, standing and collecting her things to leave. When Hiro looked like he was about to protest, Korra added “alone.”

“You can spare me the lecture, I know I shouldn’t have said what I did to mom today.” He closed his book, and Korra sat down on the floor in front of him, cross legged.

“You shouldn't have, but you need to realize that your mom and I want you to put school first right now. I know you want to do all you can to help the company, but you have to trust that your mom knows what she's doing, and you need to be trying your hardest to get your degree so you can take over the company some day.” Korra looked at his annoyed expression for a second, and had a flash back to the look Asami had when she had accused her father of being an equalist. “Your mom took over Future Industries at your age, and she regrets that she never got a chance at a real education. You have that chance.”

“What if i’m not meant to go to university?” Hiro asked, seriously, an Korra gave him a sympathetic sigh.

“You've still got a year to decide.” She smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Just do the best you can with the last year of school you’ve got, and we can have this discussion again then, okay?” He frowned at his lap. “Which means not staying up all night on a school night with your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend!” He groaned, “she’s my assistant.”

“Mhm…” Korra gave her son a hug, now that the melancholy had passed. “I’m going to go talk to your mother, alright? You need to get to sleep. You’ve got to be up in a few hours.”

The next day, Opal came over. Asami was at work, and her sons were at school, but she wasn't expecting the woman’s presence, especially not then.

“I wanted to talk to you, on behalf of Bolin, because he can’t, technically.” Korra was suddenly annoyed and defensive. “But also as a friend.”

“Okay, what exactly is it that you have to say to me?”

"Bolin doesn’t want to do this, especially not to his best friends. He loves Asami and Varrick, and doesn't want to hurt them, but after Cabbage Corp went out of business, his hands were really tied…” Korra might have argued if she weren’t so exhausted. “He’s under a lot of pressure from voters to crack down on ‘white collar crime’ and Future Industries is on everyone's tongues, Korra. You have to understand. Bolin still loves you guys-“

“I'd like it if you would go now.” Korra hissed through gritted teeth. Opal, hurt, nodded and left. Korra collapsed on the couch and fell back asleep.

Asami called Mako from her office that afternoon.

“It’s just not fair.” She exhaled, dangerously close to a whine.

“It isn't fair…” He agreed, “But justice isn't always fair.”

She hired the best lawyer money could buy. He even tells her that there's not much he can do, but he can definitely keep her out of prison. She didn’t even realize that was a possibility.

She wished her dad was there to guide her through all of this, and she was angry at him for leaving her this company without warning her about any of these things.

Right as she had finally worked something out that seemed like it might appease everyone, and she was walking into the settlement, her son stopped her.

“Please, at least keep the military division.” He pleaded, and she looked down at the large folder of deals she had worked out. She couldn't tell him it was too late. “I know you want me to finish school but I have so many ideas and if you lose this part of the company, I don’t know what I’ll do with myself.”

She reschedules the settlement, her voice was too shaky to make this kind of speech.

It takes a year, but it doesn't go to trial.

“Just to recap, for the article, the agreement is that Varrick Global Industries will de-merge from Future Industries, the mass transportation division of the company will be acquired by the United Republic to be chartered and owned publicly, correct?”

“Yes, that is correct.” Asami said, hesitantly.

“And the consumer transportation division will be acquired by the United Republic to be auctioned off?”

“…Yes” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, knowing her father would never let this happen.

“And finally, we are to believe that you will be stepping down as CEO of the remaining Military and Emerging Technologies divisions of Future Industries, to be replaced by your 18 year old son Hiro Sato?”

“Yes, but I will be staying with Future Industries as an advisor for Hiro and as a more active participant in the Research and Development side of the company.” She smiled this time, proud of her son, and maybe a little bit excited to get back to the part of her company she liked the most.

“So what is next for you, Asami?”

Asami thought for a hard minute, “Now that a lot of my responsibilities at Future Industries have been shifted, i’m thinking about taking more time off work to spend time with my wife. She does a lot of traveling and i’ve been stuck in Republic City for business. I'm excited to see how the world has changed, with my wife as the Avatar.”

Korra, sitting to Asami’s left, grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

“As a reporter,” The woman interviewing them smiled, “I have a feeling you won’t be disappointed, Mrs. Sato.”

-XXXXX-

It was Mako’s idea to wander the lower ring. Wu had insisted they travel to Ba Sing Se to announce their engagement in person, but Mako was bored out of his mind. While Wu was doing what he did, schmoozing socialites and newly established politicians, Mako figured he’d go visit his family. This time he made sure to keep a closer eye on his passport, though.

Even though his father never got the change to bring him there, Mako still associated the city with his dad. The smell of rotting produce, poorly managed sewer system, and an obvious lack of reliable running water that hung over the entire lower ring made it that much easier to realize why his father moved to Republic City in the first place.

But for Wu, it was home, so he tried not to be too openly judgmental.

Not that Wu had really even been to the Lower Ring, let alone lived in it.

The city had recovered fairly well after Zaheer’s riots. While Wu and Korra were a big part of that, the recovery that is, Mako was certain that there must have been something about the people of Ba Sing Se that made that city what it was. It’s like they had a sense of pride in staying in place even when the place was falling apart. It was definitely not a sense that Republic City possessed, seeing as how so few people had even come back after the evacuation leading up to Kuvira’s attack.

Mako was browsing the market across the street when a toddler slipped out of the house and wandered towards the crowd of people. He was confused, if not annoyed, when he felt a tugging on his pant leg.

But he looked down and couldn’t be angry. She looked up at him with bright amber eyes, dark hair, and tan skin, and he already got the feeling he’d remember that face forever.

Only a minute or so after the little girl showed up, a well-dressed young woman raced towards them, relieved, presumably to see the little girl unharmed. She picked her up quickly and meant to take off, but Mako interrupted her.

“Your daughter is beautiful.” She laughed.

“She’s not my daughter, sir.” She dismissed his compliment, “But we’re counting on it.”

He didn’t think much of the encounter beyond mild confusion until he watched the girls head back to their house.

The building stood out like a sore thumb, a lavish looking building, newly painted and decorated amongst structures that looked like they might topple over if you looked at them for too long.

Then, he just felt sick and angry.

He did grow up on the streets, even if Republic City was different than Ba Sing Se. He remembered a young Water Tribe transplant from his childhood. She was one of Bolin’s first crushes. When Bolin was 12, and the girl was around the same age, Mako remembered Bolin’s heartbreak when the old woman she lived with wouldn’t let the girl spend time with them anymore. She started dressing differently, carrying herself differently. They stopped seeing her around shortly after that.

Bolin wasn’t quite old enough to realize what was going on, but the memory haunted Mako. Now, it was happening all over again.

He made a mental note of the building. The trade had been outlawed in the Republic years ago, so he had a shred of hope the same could be said for the Earth Republic.

Wu crushed that hope, with a sympathetic frown and a “I’m not in charge around here, haven’t been in a while, you’re going to have to appeal to the public to change something that integral to the economy of the Lower Ring.” Wu patted the fire bender on the shoulder, “Not that I don’t agree with you.”

Mako intended to march back down there, in the morning, and raise some hell. Not that he knew what he could do, exactly, but he was a police officer and what good was he if he couldn’t protect people? Wu promised to tag along, hesitantly.

Wu looked so out of place in the Lower Ring that it would have been funny to Mako, if he weren’t mentally preoccupied.

A different young woman answered the door. The word “woman” being used loosely, as she was probably around 16 years old. She gave him a flirty smile and he shuddered.

“I want to speak to the owner of this place.” Mako demanded.

“That’s unlikely…” The woman from the day before said, from inside. He frowned at her. “But you can come in anyway, and talk, if that’s really what you need to do.”

He didn’t appreciate her dismissiveness of his anger, but he took her sympathy all the same. They were led to a table, where Mako and Wu sat patiently as she assured she would be back in a few minutes. She returned with tea, but Mako was distracted and uninterested, so he let it go cool in front of him. “I want to talk about the girl from yesterday.”

“Mmmm. I figured. You’re the former Prince, correct?” She moved her head to address the shorter man, who just raised his eyebrows.

“Technically…”

“So you must be from Republic City.” She looked at Mako with an unamused expression.

“I’m a cop in Republic City, actually…”

“Well let me tell you something about Ba Sing Se, cop from Republic City…” She drank from her own cup, “In Republic City, you probably have rich women, powerful women…” Mako thought of Asami, or Korra. He nodded.

“I don’t see what that-“

“We don’t, here.” She interrupted. Wu frowned guiltily at his hands, “Other than the queen, for a while. Even she was put in her place by a man…”

“I don’t think Zaheer was motivated by anything like-“

“Maybe not. My point is that here, if a woman wants to get ahead, especially a nonbender, she has to utilize the skills she has. If you’re clever or resourceful, like the owner of this establishment, you learn to organize, and you don’t have to do anything like this anymore. You just learn how to recognize talent, let men respect you in their own way, and collect the profits. “

Mako was unconvinced. “But you didn’t ask for this!”

“Of course I didn’t. None of us do. But when our parents lost faith in us, she didn’t. She gave us a path where we’d always be fed, we’d always have a roof over our heads, and if we work hard enough we’ll be able to take her place one day. She takes in orphans, takes care of them until they’re old enough to pay her back, and some of them will turn out to be the best investments she ever made.” Mako opened his mouth to protest, but she stood up. “I need to get back to work, now. It’s been fun talking to you.” She turned to look at the 16 year old girl, standing in the doorway. “See them out, yeah?”

After she left, the young girl looked between the two of them for a moment before realization washed over her. “I get it, now.” She said, as if she had uncovered a huge secret.

“What is that?” Mako asked, she smiled at him.

“Why you’re so interested in the kid, everything-“ She looked between them again. “She looks just like you! Both of you!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about-“

“If it were possible, I mean. You know, the black hair and the dark skin and the orange eyes.” She rattled off features, and while none of this was untrue, Mako felt a bit self conscious as Wu was hearing all of it. But when he glanced over at his Fiancé, he seemed mostly distracted. Deep in thought, even.

“I’m just worried about her future here.” It was a half truth, but not a lie.

“You know, I bet if you just paid, she’d give the girl up with no reservations.” The girl suggested, but Mako scrunched his nose at that idea.

“That’s still human trafficking.” He reminded her, and she shrugged.

“Apparently her parents were killed by Kuvira. Right afterwards, she was brought here, some deal was worked out. I think it would be more like an adoption.” He didn’t seem convinced. “I wish someone would have done that for me…”

“I’ll look into it.” Wu grabbed Mako’s shoulder. “I don’t know what all has changed since i’ve stepped down, but there’s not a whole lot in the way of regulation around here about that kind of thing. It should be perfectly legal.”

They left, but there was a tension between the couple that neither of them knew how to relieve. Wu tried to comfort Mako like he usually did, light physical contact and reassuring hand squeezing, but Mako kept sighing deeply, unable to focus on anything else the rest of the day.

“I meant it when I said I would look into it.” Wu assured him, when they got back to their hotel room. Mako looked into his eyes, hopefully. “This is really important to you, I can tell.”

“Are we ready for this, though? Adopting a kid? We aren’t even married yet…” Mako worried out loud, Wu grabbed his hand.

“Even if we aren’t ready, it’s the right thing to do. She deserves justice.” The looked into each other’s eyes for a few minutes, trying to find hesitation in each other, but neither of them faltered.

“Okay.” Mako conceded. “Let’s do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been forever since i've updated this fic, but that's because this chapter took me about two weeks. It's also a lot more serious and plot heavy than my other chapters, but hopefully you like it!


	11. K - Kissing

Wu and Mako were not the type of couple that kissed often. Public displays of affection were unheard of between the two.

But that was because they favored kissing in their moments of privacy, as rare as they were. Moments where no one would notice that their hair was out of place, or that they were out of breath. It was never a particular dignified sight, and they wouldn’t have it any other way, so they might as well have kept it to themselves.

-XXXXX-

Korra and Asami sneaked kisses whenever possible. In front of thousands of people, alone in their house, when out with a group of friends. They kissed before they departed, and when they returned. They kissed when they passed in the hallway, even if their hands were full and they were in a hurry. They kissed when they were excited, when they were sad.

No one understood how fleeting and fragile life was, not quite as well as Korra or Asami. So when it came down to it, they made the decision to spend as much of their short time on earth with their lips on each other’s.


	12. L - Love

Asami always thought the days were impossibly short in the spirit world. On the 7th straight day of mild weather, besides a slight breeze, and after a two day long hike, the two young women stood on the shore of a lake at the base of a mountain. In the sky were millions of stars, bright enough to make up for the lack of moonlight.

Korra acted like she couldn’t get rid of her clothes quickly enough, but Asami sat near the edge of the water, dipping her toes in. For a long moment, they made eye contact. Not that they hadn’t looked at each other the whole trip, but something about it was different. The way the starlight reflected off the water and lit up Asami, or the way that the water glistened on the Avatar as she stood in the water, waist deep.

Suddenly, the sky lit up with a purpose. Bright colors danced between the stars, almost like they were strokes of paint on a dark canvas. While Asami was mesmerized, redness spread across Korra’s cheeks.

“It’s like the southern lights,” Asami looked back at Korra, amazed and smiling. “What’s wrong?”

“I forget sometimes how much power I have here…” Korra lifted her arm out of the water to scratch the back of her neck shyly, avoiding eye contact with Asami. “As the Avatar, the spirit world reacts to my emotions physically.”

“Is that why it’s been so gorgeous this week?” Asami gave Korra a flirty look, and Korra laughed.

“Must be because I’ve been with you this whole time…” Korra responded in a similar tone. Korra walked back towards Asami, the water getting more shallow as she approached. Once she reached the shore, she sat down next to the engineer.

Asami was almost distracted from Korra by the lights in the sky, but was too curious not to ask. “So what does this mean?” She gestured towards the sky.

“The lights?” Korra giggled awkwardly. Korra brought her wet hand up to Asami’s face and brushed a loose hair behind Asami’s ear. “I don’t know…” She looked at Asami’s lips for a second and gulped. Asami leaned in the close the gap between them, and the warmth of her breath on Korra’s face inspired some courage in the Avatar, who finally leant in and pressed her lips against Asami’s.

After another long moment, the girls pulled away and looked at each other.

“It’s because the spirit world knows i’m in love with you.” Korra tried to read the other woman’s expression, and when Asami leant back in for another kiss, Korra grinned.

-XXXXX-

“-and I didn’t want Bolin to know. It would kill him. We needed food to survive and I was out of options, you know?” Mako slurred, and took another long drink of the booze in his glass. Wu just stared on, almost like a deer in headlights. “Why am I even telling you all of this? I guess you’re not going to remember it in the morning anyway.”

Wu held his still mostly full drink close to himself, and took a sip. “I’m not really that intoxicated.” In all honesty, he couldn’t be drunk in this situation even if he tried. Mako was finally opening up to him, something he literally never did, and he wasn’t going to let himself forget any of it.

“Well you should change that…” Mako got up and went into the other room, returning with a bottle of clear liquor. “Otherwise I’m going to hate myself in the morning.”

Wu shrugged, finished his drink, and poured another glass. “Sure, why not?”

“Where did Asami go…” Mako looked around, and Wu chuckled at Mako’s observation skills. For being a detective, he clearly hadn’t been paying much attention.

“She had to go make some phone calls. We might have saved the city today, but her entire business was destroyed.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Mako stared at Wu for almost 30 seconds, enough to make Wu self conscious.

“What?” Wu asked and took another drink, Mako shook his head.

“I think i’m in love with you.” Mako slurred. Wu acted like he didn’t hear anything, but his head was buzzing and the room was spinning. He finished off his second drink.

“You say that now, when you’re drunk.” Wu laughed bitterly. Mako’s face softened. Somehow, the two of them had ended up physically closer. Wu might have moved away, if it didn’t feel like his whole body was numb, and if Mako’s shoulder wasn’t pressed against his.

“I mean it.” Mako frowned, and turned to put his forehead to Wu’s. “I just, you have no reason to be with someone like me. You’re royalty, I’m nobody.”

“I don’t feel like royalty.” Wu closed his eyes, and Mako took the Prince’s upper lip between his own. They kissed for a few minutes, Mako slowly taking control of the situation until Wu was on his back and Mako was straddling him around the waist.

“Well then.” Korra suddenly announced, Mako flung himself as far away from the other boy as possible. “I guess you guys didn’t waste any time getting drunk tonight.” Mako didn’t even look up, he just looked mildly horrified. Wu got up and walked towards the bathroom.

“Oh goodness…” Asami said when she walked out to investigate the commotion. Wu was in the bathroom a good 20 feet away, but he could hear the conversation taking place.

“I’ve never seen Mako this drunk.” Korra said to Asami, “I don’t think i’ve ever seen anyone this drunk.”

“Hopefully they don’t throw up everywhere.” Asami groaned, and Mako replied similarly. “What are you groaning about?”

“Wu. I like him so much and I don’t even know what to do about it.”

“How about you sober up?” Asami, irritated, headed towards the bathroom Wu was in and knocked loudly on the door. “Are you dying in there?”

“No.” Wu responded, although he was clutching the toilet as if his life depended on it. He stood up and opened the door.

“You should go to bed.” She suggested, and Wu nodded. He walked back to the room assigned to him, only to find Mako sitting in his bed.

“I don’t want to talk to you right now.” Wu admitted, Mako smiled seductively.

“Didn’t come here to talk.” Mako stood up and walked towards him, putting his hands around Wu’s waist. “I want to make you feel good.” Mako’s stance shifted from being assertive, to being unstable, and Wu became incredibly aware of the fact that Mako was mostly holding on to him so as not to topple over.

“Don’t you realize how painful this is?” Wu groaned into Mako’s shoulder where his face was planted.

“m-sorry.” Mako kissed Wu’s neck, and Wu had to push him away.

“You’re not even going to remember this. You’re too drunk. It doesn’t feel right.”

“Fine.” Mako frowned and after a few seconds of waiting for Wu to change his mind, left the room.

Wu sighed to himself. “There must be something really wrong with me.”


End file.
